CHP nominated İlhan Cihaner as a MEP candidate from Denizli. PM Erdoğan promised something like building up two cities around Istanbul…

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures to the audience after announcing his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) election manifesto in Ankara April 16, 2011. Turkey will hold parliamentary elections on June 12. The AKP has pledged to strive for a stronger economy and has set goals for 2023, which marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

‘CHP grass roots wanted Ergenekon deputy candidates’Today’s ZamanRepublican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Gürsel Tekin has said his party’s grass roots are not uncomfortable with the nomination of suspects in the case of Ergenekon, a shadowy network that prosecutors say plotted to overthrow the government,

AK Party moving forward or going backward? by Markar EsayanToday’s ZamanI still believe the country is at an important threshold and the established order and its manifestations like Ergenekon and its cells in the bureaucracy and military have not been completely defeated. For this reason, I am nervously watching the

Ever since the transformation of the ?National View? (Milli Görüş) from initially rather radical Islamic roots, one figure came to the fore as the ?engine of change.?

Candidate lists show İstanbul will be heart of election raceToday’s Zaman
Deputy candidate lists recently submitted by political parties to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) have shown that İstanbul will be the heart of this year’s parliamentary elections, with party leaders and their top officials running in the elections

Among the candidate lists of the political parties, that of the Republican People?s Party (CHP) attracted the most attention because it excluded many old CHP figures from the party and included several suspects in the ongoing Ergenekon case.

In the 2007 general elections 67.45 percent of Parliament was replaced. This figure was much higher in the general elections of 2002 with 89.09 percent. This is because the public buried the coalition parties had that dragged Turkey into an economic crisis at the ballot box.

The arrests of Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık have received very harsh criticism from the West. At a time when the negative atmosphere regarding the detentions has reached a peak, the European Parliament adopted a report in which it expressed concern about freedom of the press in Turkey, referring directly to these two journalists.

As Turkey?s political parties submitted their candidate lists for the June 12 general elections to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) after keeping the candidate hopefuls, as well as the nation, in suspense for several months, many have begun to comment on them and draw some conclusions on how party leaders formed their lists.

In an article published before the parliamentary candidate lists of parties were announced, I wrote: ?On the evening of April 11, the real shocks will come from the Republican People?s Party (CHP). Then, we will learn what the ?real CHP? is and how the process of sending Deniz Baykal away should be analyzed. We will finally understand what really happened at the CHP.?

Numan Kurtulmuş, leader of the People?s Voice Party, or HSP, criticized Turkey?s main opposition and nationalist parties that nominated Ergenekon suspects for protecting them against possible judicial processes.

When the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, won the election in 2002 and became the ruling party, everyone had different expectations. The deep state and its partners believed these ?ignorant villagers? couldn?t manage the economy. They wanted to blame Erdoğan for the failure. So, with the help of Deniz Baykal, obstacles in front of Erdoğan to become a deputy and prime minister were removed.

from Journalist in Turkey, background articles, news and weblog about by Fréderike Geerdink

ISTANBUL ? Turkey?s governing party AKP put a woman with a headscarf on the list of candidates for the upcoming general elections. However the woman is a candidate in Antalya, where she stands no chance of being elected. This way the AKP avoids a fuss in parliament: the headscarf is unwelcome in the Turkish parliament

Necmettin Erbakan, the former Turkish prime minister who died on February 27 aged 84, was his country?s most prominent Islamic politician, and an intellectual father to many key figures in the dominant party of the last decade, the incumbent AKP.

The parties have published their slates for the the June national elections. In AKP, Erdogan has consolidated his cadre, pushing out the remaining National View (Islamist) voices in favor of younger, educated men who have demonstrated their loyalty. Two of them are former heads of the party?s youth branches. One-fifth of the AKP?s 550 candidates are legal experts, in line with the government?s upcoming push to rewrite the constitution according to what the news article (here) called a more ?libertarian? approach. Libertarian has a very specific connotation in the US, referring to a rather radical belief in individual liberty, small government, and minimal regulation that puts the citizen almost off the grid. Kind of back to a largely fictional era of self-reliance, the Wild West where government never interfered (even in regulating pornography) or assisted people with things like subsidized mortgages and Medicare. A totally hands-off government. Somehow I find that hard to imagine in Turkey. What was the Turkish word they translated as ?libertarian??

No matter whom it nominates, a certain segment of society will vote for the Republican People?s Party (CHP) as they are the conservatives of Turkey. Of all the major parties, the CHP is the one that receives the least number of votes from swing voters in every election.

A new Economist article points out why for Kurdish politicians in Turkey this summer’s parliamentary elections might different than previous ones. As the article points out, this time around campaigning in Kurdish will be allowed, while the existence of a new Kurdish-language state-run television station and the arrival of several private Kurdish television and radio stations could also change the political landscape.

It is understood that Prime Minister Erdoğan sees the 2011 general elections as being very critical. It will be easier for Erdoğan to try to switch to the presidential system in Turkey if his party emerges stronger from the elections.